


The Introductory Meeting

by holdyourbreathfornow



Series: Steven Universe Gets a Therapist [2]
Category: Steven Universe - Fandom
Genre: Gen, It makes him sick, Original Character(s), Steven talks about bringing Lars back to life, Therapy, Vomiting, discussion of trauma, poor kid
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-11-22
Updated: 2019-11-22
Packaged: 2021-02-25 23:07:45
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,670
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21523447
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/holdyourbreathfornow/pseuds/holdyourbreathfornow
Relationships: All other relationships mentioned, Steven Universe & Greg Universe, Steven Universe & His Therapist
Series: Steven Universe Gets a Therapist [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1536322
Comments: 12
Kudos: 155





	The Introductory Meeting

Dr. Ariana Franklin was not a prideful person, by any stretch of the term. She had been an only child until her parents started taking in foster kids. She had loved talking with the new kids, even if they didn’t always want to talk right off the bat. They had wanted to talk with someone, and Ariana was more than happy to be that person, to hear what had happened to the foster kids to lead them to where they were in life.

And she had kept that love through school and into college, where she got a degree in pediatric therapy. She joined a practice in Empire City, and settled in easily enough.

And now she was getting a new client. She peered into the office where he sat. The boy looked tired, constantly rubbing at his eyes and yawning. As she watched, he pillowed his head against his father's arm and nodded off as the man kept filling out paperwork.

Her receptionist, Leo, cleared his throat pointedly and she glared at him, fighting down a grin.

“I’ll send him back when he’s ready.” Leo assured her, and Ariana nodded before she headed back to her office.

While she waited, she rearranged everything. There was a shelf of stuffed animals, all downy soft and huggable. A neat pile of blankets spilled out of a wicker basket. The window that took up one wall looked out on an enclosed courtyard, and both Ariana’s chair and the client couch sat perpendicular to the window so the client could look out if they wanted to.

Eventually, Ariana ran out of things to clean and her intercom chimed. 

“He’s headed back there now, Dr. Franklin.” Leo’s voice rang out. The attached fax machine started buzzing and she clipped the kid’s information onto her clipboard before pressing the ‘respond’ button.

“Thank you, Leo.” As soon as she had settled into her chair, the door opened and the boy she’d seen in the lobby poked his head in. He looked exhausted, dark bags under his eyes and the sleeves of his pink jacket rolled up to show a bandage wrapped around his arm. “Hi, there! You must be…” She paused to look at the paperwork. “Steven! My name is Ariana Franklin, but you can call me whatever you’d like.”

“Is Dr. Franklin alright?” Steven asked, stepping fully into the room and gently shutting the door behind him.

“Perfectly. Would you like to take a seat?” Steven nodded and settled in to the cushy fabric. “Great. Now, if at any point during this you want one of the blankets or the plush animals, go ahead and grab one. They’re washed after every use, so you don’t have to worry about germs or anything.”

“Thanks.” Steven murmured, looking around the room and slowly taking it all in.

“So, Steven, before we begin, I have a questionnaire I want us to do. It helps me learn a little more about you and find a good place for us to start.”

“Okay.” The boy reached up and tried to push his sleeves down, but flinched when the one on his bandaged arm touched the wound. He pushed them back up, and retrieved a blanket, draping it carefully over his lap and slowly stroking the soft material absentmindedly.

“Great. Now, I’m going to ask that you don’t give me an answer you’re uncomfortable with, since that’s not the point of today’s meeting. Are you ready?”

“Yeah.”

“Good. Now, do you get eight hours of sleep a night every night?”

“No.”

“How often do you get eight hours of sleep a night?”

“I can’t remember the last time I did.”

“Do you eat three meals a day?”

“No.”

“Do you feel full constantly?”

“It’s more like I get too nauseous to eat.”

“Okay. Who were you raised by?”

“My dad and… Do you know who the Crystal Gems are?”

“Yes, Steven. How would you classify your relationship with them?”

“I guess they’re kinda like my aunts? Or maybe moms. I don’t know.”

“It’s alright. Family dynamics are confusing for humans, let alone beings from space. How often do you see your dad?”

“Every day.”

“Do you have any human friends?”

“Yeah.”

“That’s great. We’re about to get into some of the heavier questions. Do you want to take a break?” Steven hesitated, twisting his fingers tighter into the blanket. 

“Can… I have something to drink?”

“Certainly. Any preferences? Besides coffee, of course. You’re a touch too young and the smell makes me nauseous.”

“Me too.” Steven giggled and thought. “Can I have some Cola?”

“Certainly.” There was a mini fridge tucked under Ariana’s desk and she opened it, pulling out a can of Cola and a bottle of water for herself. She set both on the glass coffee table between them. “There you go.”

“Thank you.” He cracked open the can and waitd to see if it was going to foam over before he took a slow drink from it. 

“Let me know when you’re ready. Take as long as you need.” She assured him and then the room lapsed into silence. Ariana doodled idly as Steven kept carding his fingers through the blanket material.

Finally, he took a deep breath and nodded. “Okay. I’m ready.”

“Great. If you need to stop, don’t hesitate to throw your can at me.” He giggled and she grinned in response. “Just try to make sure it’s empty first, please.”

“I make no promises.”

“Fair enough.” Ariana flipped her notebook open and prepared her pen. Steven shifted uncomfortably. “What was your first experience with death?”

“Oh.” Steven blinked. “I don’t know what I was expecting you to ask, but it definitely wasn’t that.”   
  


“Remember you don’t have to answer that if you don’t want to.”

“No, no, it’s fine.” He took a slow, deep breath, both calming himself and thinking about his answer. “Uh, I guess my mom died when she gave birth to me? But the first one I really was aware of was when I saw my friend Lars die in front of me.”

“I’m sorry for your loss.” Ariana tried to comfort Steven, but he shrugged it off like water off a duck’s back.

“I don’t need it. He’s alive.” The doctor paused and switched out her clipboard for a tape recorder.

“Okay, I think I’m going to ask you to elaborate on that.”

“I… Brought him back to life. I guess I’m able to do that? But I didn’t know that until it happened, and all I could think was that he…” Steven hesitated and had started going pale. His fingers twisted in the blanket material. “He was d-” The paleness Ariana had thought was fear turned out to be nausea as Steven gagged. 

Hurriedly, she pushed the trash can next to the coffee table in front of him and Stevn slid off the couch onto his knees and vomited into it. Ariana walked around the table to kneel next to Steven.

“Steven, may I touch you? I have a headband here I want to use to push your hair out of your face.” The kid nodded weakly, still coughing up bile and groaning quietly. Ariana slipped the headband onto Steven and laid a steadying hand on his shoulder. “How are you feeling?”

“Better?” He said almost questioningly and leaned back. “I don’t feel sick anymore.”

“That’s good. We’ve got two options here: We can either cut today’s session short so you can head home, or we can finish the session up since we only have fifteen minutes left.”

“I wanna finish.” Steven told her and she nodded.

“Okay. We’re going to just cool off now, okay? So don’t worry about finishing your story. If you want, we can pick up there next week.”

“So what do we do for the last-” Steven paused to glance at the clock, “-Ten minutes?”

“I like to play with slinkies!” Ariana grinned and picked one out from the toy box. “What would you like, Steven?”

“The Rubik’s Cube.” He murmured and she handed it to him.

“I am going to need that back before you leave.” She winked and though Steven still looked pale and shaky, he was able to laugh slightly.

“Okay.”

-

Ariana walked Steven out to the library, where his dad and one of the Crystal Gems, the pale birdlike one, were waiting. His dad was on his phone while the Gem knitted, her needles clacking together quietly. 

“You must be Mr. Universe.” Ariana called and the two adults glanced up. The dad nodded and stood to shake her hand while Steven walked into the Gem’s open arms and buried his face in her chest as she wrapped her arms around him.

“You can call me Greg.” He told Ariana. “Pearl, you can go ahead and head out. Steven, I’ll drop by later, okay?”

“Okay, Dad. Love you.”

“Love you too, Shtu-ball.” Once Pearl and Steven were out the doors, Greg turned back to Ariana. “So how did it go?”

“He’s got a lot of stuff to work through, I’ll be perfectly honest. And he mentioned a friend of his named Lars?”

“Yeah. The two of them were kidnapped together. Taken to a whole other planet and everything.”

“Jesus.” Ariana clasped her hands. “And apparently Lars died while they were up there. Steven brought him back to life, but I imagine it’s still very traumatizing to have someone you thought was dead suddenly come back to life.” Greg didn’t say anything and Ariana lifted an eyebrow in concern. “Greg?”

“Neither of them said.” Greg said quietly and cupped a hand over his mouth. “Oh god, that explains a lot.”

“I think you’ve all had a long day, Greg. Go home, hug your kid.”

“Yes, ma’am.” Greg shook her hand again and after they scheduled Steven’s next appointment, he headed out the door. “We’ll see you next week.”

“Sure will.” Ariana waved and once the door shut, she turned to Leo. “Leo, print me off everything you can find on the Crystal Gems.”


End file.
